Winding Down the Year

Oddly and unexpectedly enough, I've been feeling rather nostalgic today as I've been getting ready to leave Bloomington. The movers came today and took away stuff to go into storage. It's surprising both how much, and how little one has, really, considering the amount of time I've had to accumulate things. It feels like a lot, but it could be much, much more.

I went in to work for awhile this afternoon, to wrap things up there. I left my keys. I've already turned in my keys for the Education Library. I'm down to the keys for the apartment. When I turn those in tomorrow, I will be keyless. That's the oddest, hardest thing to deal with at the moment. It means I will really have no place of my own for awhile. I like having my own place, no matter how small, or dumpy, or bat-infested. Not having a place of one's own... that's something that makes me feel less somehow - less responsible, less adult, less real.

I know that my worth is not tied up in a place, but it matters to me. Maybe this is a lesson I'm supposed to work on this next year - that my worth is not tied to anything outside my existence. I've been working on letting go of many things. Maybe this is one more.

Tomorrow I'll be leaving my apartment, and spending a couple nights at the local Motel 6 (one of the few pet friendly places in town). I won't have an Internet connection there, so there will be a time of transition before I post again in a new place, and a new year. I'll leave you with a collection of photos from the past couple days, and the wish that the new year is peaceful and full of manageable challenges.
Callie always manages to find the patch of sun, no matter what chaos surrounds her.
My life, condensed into boxes. I added a microwave in a box and two kitchen boxes after this was taken. It took two guys 30 minutes to load it in a truck and take it away.

This is the rest of the furniture that you couldn't quite see from the picture above.

One of the SLIS (School of Library and Information Science) doors. I don't even want to think about how many times I've gone in and out of them (and no, it does not say, Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here).

Wells Library - home to SLIS and a giant bunch of books - taken from the arboretum side.

Ballantine Hall - home of the Faculty Council Office (fondly called "the cube" for its lack of windows and the plethora of florescent lighting and cinder block walls)

The Indiana Memorial Union (IMU) - I still think it looks castle-y. This is taken from the bus stop.

In December - a small fountain and pond outside a restaurant that's not frozen and is filled with fish. Go figure. Of course, it was in the 50's today. I liked the way the light reflected from the ripples.